Hellforged Reavers
The Hellforged Reavers are a Khornate warband on the rise, a small cluster of mostly cynical, yet disciplined, warriors, willing to die and kill for the sake of fulfilling the purpose all astartes are made to be; Be weapons of war. As such they hold little on the way of scruples against who they fight (unless it is a warband or individual they have allied faithfully before). They are also notable for the fact that they try their best to remain a cohesive unit, seeking perfection on the art of fighting and martial training and tactics. They archive this by the implantation of calming stimulants on their bloodstream, thanks to this they have reached the attention of willing recruits and converts on the side of the World Eaters and Iron Warriors. Another infamous thing to note about them is the fact that they are armor forgers, or at least have Chaos Forges capable of creating them, to separate themselves from their past selves, as such they order and organize mining operations alongside their Tech Adept allies on conquered, butchered or desolate worlds. History The Hellforged Reavers are a warband of the Word Bearers, having minor elements of renegade Iron Warriors and World Eaters. The Warband came into being by the Chaos Lord Agarax Haerrek, who viewed a idealistic Long War as a pointless endeavor, caring little for the outcome of it, only seeing true satisfaction on the battlefield, regardless of what the fight's reasons. As such he sought all the Word Bearers he could that desired brotherhood and battle without end on the Daemon World of Sicarius, including those that were disillusioned with the state of current affairs with the Bearers of the Word, seeing most leaders as back-stabbing fools, little of the companionship of the Heresy and Pre-Heresy days. The group choose Khorne as their patron god instead of the Undevided's pantheon, seeing that what they sought was found in just one God alone. Haerrek was no fool thought, so he developed a serum to be injected on the stimulants of the power plate of each battle brother to calm them down during berserker rages, desiring to create a competent warband, not a suicidal one, taking all what he could of the book or Lorgar, creating a nuanced opinion on the Blood God's blessings to instill a sense of order, or in this case, martial meaning. on these travels he sought Heretch or Dark Mechanicum groups to manufacture the serum, alongside joining forces with a Iron Warriors warband, created by a heavily modified astartes named Temeril, "SlaughterChild", as he, like the Word Bearers, desired to worship Khorne but without the blinding tamtrums it gave, wishing to join the Reavers, this also includes some few World Eaters who sought a end to the sing of the nails. Founding The Hellforged are a warband of mixed numbers, the majority are the sons of the Urizen, the rest are World Eaters who desired to silence or at least downplay the tic of the butcher's nails or Iron Warriors, who seek to serve Khorne without the need to lose their martial capabilities. Battles * '''The Brass Bull Skirmish: '''The Reavers battled head on a company of a Chapter whose astartes wore bronzed gold, their heraldry being that of a bull, the fight ended in a draw as the company escaped, their numbers dwindling. Cheated by such blatant cowardice they took a wounded, near death psyker of the unknown chapter, interrogating in excruciating pain, the coordinates spewed from the dying marine, alongside the words "Bulls and Minotaurs". The Hellforged went to the system, seeking to kill and claim as many skulls of the foe as possible, finding the golden vessel was eventually found and boarded, their combatants overwhelmed by the sheer power of the Blood Reapers terminator assault alongside both astartes and human slaves. The Reavers noticed that their heraldry was slightly different, this time the bull was surrounded by red, unlike the previous company whose was white. Unbeknownst to them the White Minotaurs chapter was under scrutiny by the infamous (yet ironically similarly named) Minotaurs, who were called to keep watch on both White and Brazen Minotaur chapters, suspected of treachery. Their charge was on trouble, so the current vigilant company came to the rescue, fighting against the Reavers, the Chaos marines were actually pleased by this turn of events, the newcomers were as ferocious in combat as any khornate. Many loses were made on all sides, but the loyalists overwhelmed the Reavers, with great reluctance Haerrek ordered a retreat, but emphasized the recovery of the skulls that they could, at the end the Hellforged proudly displayed stolen shields, skulls of three corpse-worshiper groups, brass colored plate and the like on their trophy room, the rest that could be salvaged for plate, proudly acquired, such a feast became worthy of celebration, but the taste was bittersweet, as victory killed many a good warrior-brother. * '''The Battle of the Thirst: '''The reavers were drifting in space, they felt vulnerable thanks to their previous skirmish, they re-entered the warp, but this particular entrance did not come without consequences, the airs of change drifted on this particular warpstorm, twisting space and time, as the Hellforged entered a strange, blue planet, one filled with many a good oceans and particularly small islands, no continents. At this, the khornates decided to land, to get as much water as they could, or at least to investigate if it was drinkable. As they entered they found two factions warring, ones clad in blue and lighting, another clad in a rooting yellow and iron. The Ursi Securis and the Night Lords. The Reavers with little option began to use as many slaves as they could, taking the water available and testing it, finding no problem in his consumption, even if it was on the realm of the Eye, as they escaped with all the liquid they could, the sons of Curze attacked them on their fleets, their petty hungers driving them to fight, before another shot could be made, the Bears attacked the distracted blue vessel, the Reavers joined, some even as far began to launch drop pods, both chaos astartes battleships launched their very best at the vessel, intending to kill as many of the pale sons as they could. The battle was bloody, but thanks to help of the Nurglites, the Night Lords were vanquished, their skulls taken, and their battle-brothers converted into plague marines. At this unlikely alliance the Reavers asked what were they doing on the unknown planet, apparently a company of lords of the night were camping there, paranoid they attacked the Bear Axes, even if they themselves didn't even want the water. At this they forged a alliance, if they met again, they might destroy the slaves of the false emperor tegother....before the Reavers vanished without a trace, returning to their own time. Characters Agarax Haerrek Agarax is a Chaos Lord, previously of the World Bearers Sixth Company, he left after seeing that the Dark Apostle's conclave degenerated into a honorless, infighting rabble, seeking to create his own brotherhood, alongside understanding of the Blood God, to see what kinds of environments and actions he could be brought about. He wears a Cataphtractii Terminator armor, with a brass colored daemon forged hammer, alongside a powerclaw. In terms of personality he could be described as cold and stoic, seeking to emulate Erebus on that regard, as a dignified leader, suffering no foolishness on his presence, doing sermons and grand speeches at the beginning of each battle, to pump the blood of this battle-brothers. Temerial SlaughterChild He is the Chaos Lord of the previously named "Silver HeadTakers" warband, seeing that his battle-brothers were slowly deteriorating in mind he sought a way to solve this problem, almost becoming a hypocritical servant of Chaos, hating it while using it, thankfully he came across the Reavers, who gave he and his brothers the respite they needed, alongside a new enlightened view of the Wolf Father. Temerial posses a unique, disturbing and never seen before feature that he commissioned on the end of the Heresy, for his brain to be transplanted and his head to be removed, replaced by a heavily modified Boltgun. This head posses a vox for speech and a scope for sight, this modification was seen with approval by the Aurelian's sons as dedication to slaughter, many others laugh at his back by such a choice. Temerial is also known by his blackened sense of humor and overall good mood, even if his unusual appearance makes others uncomfortable, he seeks to be a leader of people's respect, not a tyrant, some see this as weakness, which if he overhears in any way, he will silence the mocker, in any way or another. The War Bringer A Ferrum Infernus patterned Dreadnought, losing his body on the Brass Bull crusade, he now inhabits a Dreadnought stolen by the Reavers, originally owned by a rival and outwardly hostile Thousand Sons warband, now reduced to near extinction, the War Bringer walks among the Reavers, his previous name forgotten now seeking his identity as a symbol of faith and endurance, unlike most of his brothers he doesn't worship nor pray to Khorne alone, but to the Pantheon itself, being rather unwilling to forget the ways of his past brothers. Geraz Emerl Emerl is the Chaos Lord of the Brazen Scars, a World Eater warband, almost all their members destroyed by the nails, they fought against the Silver Headtakers, before coming to a agreement at the discovery of what the Reavers possess and joining them on the search for this possible cure. Now he is a member of the Umber colored, grateful at the salvation given by the Word Bearers. He is a faithful brother, not exactly pious, but one of the best axemen on the warband, his skills are almost second to none. Relations Enemies * '''Minotaurs: '''After the vengeful skirmish the Reavers created with three different Chapter Companies of astartes, they began to hunt for the khornates, the most persistent were the Inquisition's dogs, the main Minotaurs, seeking revenge for killing so many of their brothers alongside spoiling a perfectly good investigation. The Reavers on the other hand don't care too much, as long as they reaped the skulls of the foe, there was little chance of them objecting, only if their numbers and supplies diminished. * '''Night Lords: '''They became a enemy of the Night Lords after their time displaced battle. Afterwards many a good warband of the sons of Nostramo were told of the existence of the Reavers, to seek petty revenge if given the chance, after the galaxy was sliced in half by the chosen of the gods, the few Night Lord warbands that even bothered to carry the vengeance of their fallen brothers were made during the days were the Imperium on the insanity of the Cicatrix Maledictum. One notable battle was on a prison world, were the Reavers ended the life of a minor, small lords of the night warband with little mercy. Allies * '''Black Legion: '''The Reavers participated on the 13th Black Crusade, they met the Warmaster's legion on several occasions, the meetings coming as agreeable and even amiable, at the very worst neutral. As such the Hellforged admitted they would willingly aid the Imperium's Demise if given the chance, the Warmaster himself seemed a bit amused at such a collection of different legions joining to create something of their own, reminding it of his own brothers. * '''Ursi Securis: '''Even thought the Bears were of different beliefs and methods they seemed to agree on the fact that Chaos was the only way to help the Imperium, indeed even if all and each one of the Reavers was thought that fighting and carnage was the only thing that mattered a bit of hope to be made on the other warbands was of little trouble, at times they go at odds with these ideals of idealism and cynicism, but they seemed more together than ever on the field of battle, both willing to kill on the forefront. Cult and culture The Hellforged Axes are a very martial warband, seeking to better themselves in battle in every way they can, almost coming across as the Phoenician's sons by their perfectionism, but unlike them, they seek to do it by the logic of survival, self-improvement and impressing the Blood God, not any foolish notions of narcissism. As such they practice and spar every day they can, seeking to reach a right balance. The Wolf's Test The Hellforged seek to give some nuance and purpose on the worship of Khorne, seeing the rages and demands given as a test. To see which side of the warrior's path the worshiper will take, either he becomes a dutiful, faithful killer, and ascends to a state of cold calm over time, or he becomes the stereotype, a unthinking beast, barely kept in control by his own willpower or the influence of others. The Hellforged also seem to understand that eternal war strengthens the soul and culls the weak, as such the dead are given small prayers to see if he was worth entering the domain, unless they failed the test, which sees them as nothing but beasts of medium worth. Skull Giving The Reavers are deeply pious of Khorne, after each hunt, they take the skulls of the defeated and killed, and create rituals of blood and sacrifice to throw the skulls directly on the realm of the blood god, these rituals involve summoning a minor daemon of khorne, and butcher it, using their ichor as a drawn gateway, after the portal is opened the skulls are thrown, none dare look at the insides of the blood hound's domain, lest they offend him. Blessings of Khorne A interesting characteristic of the Hellforged is the fact that minor mutations (or "blessings") are almost rampant on those that willingly joined the Reavers, and remain honored brothers. These changes include; Skin pigmentations that are certainly inhuman; Brass, charcoal black or red, alongside teeth of metal. Another notable change is the eye coloration, it is thought that those under the thrall of the Butcher's Nails have their eyes bleached to a disturbing white yellowish color, still capable of seeing, but some rare cases have them without those cybernetic modifications, all those are khornates, and the Reavers, disturbingly enough have in a totality bleached eyes. These changes are (like many other chaos astartes warbands) celebrated upon, and in this case, they are seen as objects of a successful warrior-brother induction. Armor Customization HFR helm.png|The standard, custom made helm of the Reavers. The Caedere Remissum is noted to be forged intentionally resembling Khorne's rune more than the standard horns. A unique thing about the Reavers is the fact that most of them try their best to either modify or outright create new plate for their powered armor, eschewing their origins to start anew. These plates are notable for being very ornate, symbols of wolves, Bloodletters, ancient human warriors or beastmen engraved and/or plastered on the chestplate, which is too modified to resemble the longer Marks 2 through 4, (or stole those cuirasses) in order to show more of the ornaments. These modified plates include buzzsaw like trims for the pauldrons, the trims of the limbs resembling likewise jagged, sharp saws. The abdomen is protected by segmented plates. It also may include extra assets like tassets and ornamental silvered gold filigree. The armor sometimes includes gems the color of jade, or coating the gauntled-claws. It is overall described by many as looking like the knights of old Terra. The helmet seems to eschew the "cap" like design that the standard astares headgear posses, going without it replacing it with a amalgamation of the Chaos Star and the Wolf God's rune, the Vox grille is covered on the front by a pair of vicious, alien maws, in order to intimidate opponents. Mining The Reavers on conquered, desolate or butchered worlds enlist the help of a minuscule Mechanicum fleet named "Dark Crystal". where they mine the materials needed to create more weapons, the fleet was needed in order to have the necessary materials to survive, the Hellforged needed the metal to forge weapons, the mechanicus needed protection, a oath was made eventually, as both forces needed each other, alongside the fact that the Reavers might give them some stolen goods of their own in exchange for more material. Favored Tactics Units * '''Siege Breakers: '''As the name says, they are those that take the job of dismantling the defenses of the foe, this responsibility goes to the Iron Warriors that joined the Hellforged, they are noted for possessing many a good mortal aid on fortifications and sieges. * '''The Broken: '''Any of those whose minds have been rendered useless on non-combat activity, this includes both Word Bearers and Iron Warriors taken by Khorne in the deep end and World Eaters overcome by the Butcher's Nails. They are either a shock assault or terror units, they are noted for the fact that the serum is rendered useless at the persistent song of the nails, poor worship and result of the demands of Khorne getting to their psyches. * '''Blood Reapers: '''The Terminator units of the Reavers, they are but a few, and only used when the tide of the battle is on the opposite end. Recruitment The Hellforged can induct fellow marines that are willing to join, but trust must be built, alongside close examination and watch of their person, in order to see if they seek to steal or work with a agenda or a future betrayal, as such for a period of time chosen by the Chaos Lord, the new astartes will be denied the stimulants that may calm those on the worship of Khorne, to see if they are capable of breaking and possibly revealing any information of their person or malevolent intent. As for any scouts and the like, they usually kidnap from the worlds they raid, even as far as having slaves and couples on their warships in order to breed possible recruits, which is standard for any chaos marine warband. Home planet The Reavers station themselves on the daemon world "War God's Throne", a planet of red skies, strange metallic protuberances can be found on every continent, each and everyone the color of gold. These gigantic structures hollow on the inside, with many spikes protruding from their surface. These anomalies are used as buildings, and indeed they have rooms already "built in" the brass buildings. The origin of these buildings is unknown, perhaps the will of the gods made them for worthy, mortal occupants. Many of the world's dominant inhabitants are khornate daemons and beastmen. The world's plant fauna is alien, and poisonous for ingestion, even to astartes, each and every vegetal lifeform is the color of rust, the planet houses the Hellforged's main equivalent of a fortress monastery and main lair.Category:Berserkers Category:Cultists Category:Super Soldiers Category:Military Characters